Brave and the Bold: Shadow of the Magpie?
by JudeDeluca
Summary: Something stinks in St. Roch and it has Gotham City written all over it. A low level psychopath named Magpie has started a crime spree, and Hawkman goes to Gotham wanting answers, unintentionally inviting Batman along the way. Can the two bag this bird?


Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, Hawkman, or any of the characters in this story.

This is a gift in return to someone who did something really cool for my birthday on December 25th. I asked what his dream DC team-up, ala Brave and the Bold, would be, and he said Batman & Hawkman. I going to post it in chapters here, and the whole thing on Deviantart. I'm not really an expert on Hawkman, so I don't know if I've got his personality done right. My apologies if my writing's not up to par, there's been a lot of crap going on in my house and creativity has been stifled. A lot. I'd been willing to another one if he doesn't like it. Oh well. Merry Christmas.

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Chapter One: The Meeting

**Gotham City**

The sound of frantic footsteps splashing on muddy puddles in a deserted alley. A shadow darting across the rooftop and the flutter of a cape. The panicky man looks over his shoulder to notice if a certain dark knight is still behind him. His brow is stained with sweat and his eyes have the look of animal with it's leg caught in a hunter's trap.

_His name is Bobby Valentine, leader of a gang called the 3rd Street Sinners. He thinks watching old reruns of Humphrey Bogart movies and COPS episodes qualifies him to try and rob a department store. By holding a gun to an old woman's head. One of the worst clichés I've ever had to deal with._

Bobby trips and lands in front of a tall, chain link fence at the end of the alley. He tries to climb up the fence yet his palms are too sweaty, his state of mind is too frantic for him to be able to keep one foot in the fence. A figure descends into the alley behind him.

"End of the line."

The Batman, sworn protector of Gotham City and the scourge of evil doers across the planet, and even on some distant ones.

Bobby whips out the gun he keeps in his back pocket and aims it at Batman. His aim is shaky and his mind is racing a million miles a minute.

"St-stay back, man! Stay back!" Bobby warns him.

Batman calmly, slowly, approaches Bobby, the gun still aimed somewhat directly at Batman's chest.

"I said stay-"

Batman adamantly smacks the gun out of Bobby's grip, then grabs him by the collar of his jacket and hoists him up against the brick wall on the left side of the alley. Bobby's fear is amplified by the cold, hard look he can see in Batman's eyes and wonders if he's going to die.

"You've really caught me at a bad time, Bobby." Batman says in that low, threatening voice which has made him so famous with Gotham's underworld. "I've got too much on my plate to be worrying about low level garbage like you."

"Having fun?" A voice from above asks.

Two sets of goons were just tossed on the alley floor with a loud THUD. Batman looks up in the sky, but instead of a big red "S" he sees a wings and a black bird.

"Hawkman."

_Carter Hall. Or Katar Hol. A founding member of the Justice Society of America and a member of the Justice League. His back story is too confusing to sort out all the details. He's either an alien policeman from the planet Thanagar or the reincarnation of an Egyptian prince, endlessly coming back and doomed to die just as his true love confesses her love to him. Some say he's both, if you believe in that sort of thing. Currently, people in my line of work know him as archaeologist Carter Hall, the on/off lover of Kendra Saunders, Hawkgirl. And sometimes Hawkwoman. Like I said, confusing. People also know him for having one of the worst tempers around. During my time in the League, I remember his constant arguments with Green Arrow over politics. I tended to drone them out._

"What brings you to Gotham?" Batman asks.

"Found these two cowering behind a dumpster on Byrne Avenue." Hawkman explains as he flutters down to the ground to stand face to face to Batman. Hawkman is actually the tallest of the two, but it's hard to see if it's because of all the gear that he wears. The first two guys are the other members of the 3rd Street Sinners. One's bleeding profusely from the nose and the other will probably need his arm surgically repaired.

"And these two…?" Batman inquires to the other two Hawkman has dumped on the alley floor.

"They tried looting a jewelry store in St. Roch. Their ID said they're Gotham residents."

Batman kneels down to inspect the two.

"Jimmy McCallahan and Brody Westwick. A couple of low level goons, usually working for the likes of Mr. Polka-Dot or Calendar Man. Although they're missing more teeth then usual." Batman observantly explains.

"I want to know what your trash was doing in my city." Hawkman demands to know.

"Hmm. The last I heard of these two should have been finishing a stint in a minimum security prison for armed robbery." Batman thinks, his hand on his chin as he thinks the situation over. "Just let me contact the GCPD

"I want answers _now_." Hawkman gruffly demands again.

Batman quietly turns to face Hawkman's steely gaze.

"Fine." Batman replies. He reaches into his belt and pulls out a small device.

BEEP.

In no time flat the Batmobile shows up on the street.

"Hop in." Batman offers.

"Thanks, I'm fine."

"Suit yourself."

…

The Batcave.

The infamous lair of Gotham's best crime fighter, housed under stately Wayne Manor. Home to the many mementos and leftovers from some of his famous cases. A robot dinosaur, giant penny, playing card with a ghastly clown's face hanging from wires. It also houses Batman's files on, almost everything there is to know. He's seated at the Bat computer as Hawkman stands behind him, gazing at the screen.

"Explain to me again the details of how you caught these two." Batman asks.

"It seemed like a simple breaking-and-entering case. The two had stolen over thirty thousand dollars worth of diamonds and gold. But in place of the jewels they stole were an assortment of plastic rings, the kind you get in gumball machines. A police officer picked one up and the ring blew up in his face."

"Really? What was the name of the jewelry store the two were casing?"

"Wren Avenue Gem Depository."

"Wren?"

And that's all the Batman needs to go on.

"Have there been any other robberies in St. Roch involving jewels, or birds?" Batman asked.

"Not that I can think of, although a collection of rare coins was stolen from the home of one of the current benefactors of the Stonechat Museum, Robin Valduchio. The burglar left behind a bag of marbles that released carbon monoxide gas. The man suffocated to death, along with his live-in staff and two German shepherds he kept as pets." Hawkman finished explain.

The news clippings and articles of the robbery/murder turn up on the Batcave's monitors.

"This all fit's the MO of only one villain I can think of. Birds, booby-trapped trinkets, and regular theft of shiny objects."

"Shiny objects?" Hawkman incredulously asks.

"Margaret Pye, a.k.a. Magpie."

The image on the screen reveals a woman in a garish red and silver costume, consisting of fishnet stockings, long gloves, big red sunglasses, red triangle dangle earrings, a tri-hawk/mullet hairstyle, and gapped teeth.

"What's her story?" Hawkman asks.

"Magpie is a deranged kleptomaniac obsessed with stealing shiny and rare objects she believes are rightfully hers, the result of childhood teasing and a badly chosen birth name. She usually leaves behind booby-trapped objects in place of whatever it is she's stolen, and those trinkets usually wind up killing or maiming anyone around them."

"She sounds like another bird-themed villain I dealt with some time ago. An insane inventor who called herself Hummingbird." Hawkman mentions. "Just goes to show the amount of originality in the super villain community."

"I first met up with Magpie years ago, during one of my earlier encounters with Superman. She's stayed low most of the time, expect when she broke out of Arkham Asylum with Poison Ivy. Her mind's as badly put together as her outfit."

"Now THAT is a given. But what the hell is she doing in St. Roch?" Hawkman asks.

"Before her first arrest, Margaret Pye worked as a museum curator."

"The Stonechat Museum of Art & History is unveiling the brand new 'Heart of Horus' collection." Hawkman explains. "It's the Museum's biggest attraction this year."

"Bruce Wayne is planning a special appearance on behalf of the Wayne Foundation's generous donation to the Stonechat Museum that night." Batman explained. "It's almost too easy."

"Easy? Easy for you. I'm handling this." Hawkman clarified.

"Then why did you bother coming to me for help?" Batman asked.

"I just wanted to know who it was I'm dealing with. A low level loser like this doesn't require the two of us to handle."

"She might be low level but that doesn't make her any less of a psychopath. She has a rather bad habit of killing her henchmen and an ingenious method of creating said objects to conceal deadly surprises." Batman explained. "If she isn't stopped soon she'll continue to kill anyone else who she believes has 'wronged' her. Her body count has already started to near triple digits."

"Do you know everything about everyone?" Hawkman asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not really, Joseph."

There's almost an astonished look on Hawkman's face. Joseph. Hawkman's rarely said middle name. Almost no one knows it. Except the Batman, of course.


End file.
